I’m not a big fan of his, but the movie was very well done. I left feeling quite disturbed- anxious about the future and saddened by how some people are presently living.
In response to Kerri’s blog post:
Yesterday, we went to see SICKO. I expected the film was going to make me feel angry and courageous and ready to take action… however, it was different this time…I felt many things, but mostly I felt deeply touched , concerned and sad.
During the film, I cried many times… I did not cry for any political agenda, or because there are or not countries with better systems…
For me, it is more about universal values, people should not be denied health care if needed. I just cannot get it. It is not fair, it is not human, and mostly, I don’t think it is necessary in a country like this, so great, with so many resources.
This film did make me think too! And I am really glad it is out there, available, opening channels of communication and debate. I think it is a good thing that Michael Moore knows how to touch our buttons… and I truly I believe that with time, openness and communication only good things come off of exposing a situation that touches ALL of us so deeply.
I just finished watching SICKO about 5 minutes ago and I can say, it left me feeling very sad. I think the problem with America today is that we still really, truely think we’re the greatest nation in the world. We’re not. There are many countries out there taking much better care of their citizens than America. That’s so sad for us Amercians. I always believed growing up that we were the greatest nation in the world but now, with some perspective, I realize that we are not. The last 15 minutes of the movie -where he takes the workers of 911 to Cuba and they receive all the medical care they need for free in Cuba is so moving and distrubing at the same time. How utterly pathetic that these brave individuals have to leave the US to be treated. It really makes you wonder. All of those with Diabetes should be screaming to their Congress & Senators about this film and demanding Universal Healthcare. Nothing changes without action.
My son is 17 months old and was diagnosed with D1 in April of this year. I realize now that any dreams we had of starting our own business are gone because we could never, ever get health insurance for him. In fact, after 4 days in the Stanford PICU when he was diangosed, I got home and got a letter from our insurance company saying they were going to deny his coverage because of a pre-existing condition!! Really, that’s what I needed to be dealing with emotionally after finding out his diagnosis. I really needed to hear from the *ucking insurance company that they weren’t going to cover this diagnosis. It’s bad enough that I had to give my baby 4 shots a day and 10 BG prick and that these bastards wanted to know if this baby had a pre-existing condition!!! Thank God we had a group plan or we really would have been in the weeds. The 4 days in the hospital was over $75,000 and that doesn’t include all the medicine we had to get. Within a month we had reached our out of pocket max of $2500. I think that folks who see this movie who are in good health and never had to deal with illness will think Michael Moore is crazy. Those of us who have had to battle the insurance company and deal with the endless letters, etc. will know that he hit the bulls eye with this one.
I remember back in the 80s when Hillary Clinton was working on Univeral Healthcare coverage for American’s while her hubby was the president. I worked in Human Resourses at a Biotech company at the time and let me tell you, most of my job was working the Health Care system for my employees. I would tell them to be a consumer and work the system in order to get the best coverage. I thought at the time that Hillary was doing a great job but everyone HATED her. I was very active in the grassroots lobbying for Universal Coverage at that time so I felt I really knew what was at stake. Here was this extremely bright woman, working for free for the American people, trying to get the goverment to cover something that should be every person’s right. I knew they would vilify her and you know what, I was right. America wasn’t ready for someone like her. My prediction is, they still aren’t. That’s America’s loss.
Until you are without coverage or someone in your family is - it’s not real to you. When you become the story, then you will feel it, live and and hopefully, not die from it.
I’m really hoping that our country will change soon. No one should have to chose between food and medicine, coverage for their child or rent , etc…
Ok, my rant is done. Manny, I love your site. Go see the movie and prepare yourself for many surprises. At a minimum, the discussion around the table with the expats that live in France is amazing!! Makes you want to pack your bags and leave on the next plane…
So, what would you ask the candidates for US President, in regards to diabetes, insurance, etc. if you were in front of them?
There are things that are just wrong, and it seems to me that until the vicious circle of the conflict of interests at so many levels (government, insurance companies, pharma, etc.) is broken, the prospects of the US are not too good.